Graphene Inkjet-Printed Ultrawideband Tapered Coplanar-Waveguide Antenna on Kapton Substrate

Abstract

This paper presents an ultra-wideband graphene antenna with tapered coplanar-waveguide feed. The proposed antenna covers the 2.7-8.2 GHz bandwidth (2.6-10 GHz measured), with two main resonance frequencies at 3.1 and 5.5 gigahertz (3.1 and 5.8 measured). Simulations show a radiation pattern that looks quasi-omnidirectional with a maximum gain limited to 3.15 dBi and efficiency above 84.7%. In order to post-process the graphene ink and to provide flexibility, Kapton Polyimide is used as a substrate. The flexibility, as well as the lightweight and ease in the fabrication of accurate designs, turns this antenna into a suitable candidate for wearable and flexible wireless applications.